


Five Minutes

by Settiai



Category: Home Alone (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Missing Scene, One Shot, Yuletide, Yuletide 2019, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21952300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Five minutes was all it took to send Kate's life spiraling.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 91
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Five Minutes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MachineGunBallet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineGunBallet/gifts).



"Kevin!"

Kate's shriek practically echoed throughout the plane, and a distant part of her knew that everyone in first class – and probably a fair number of people in coach – were probably very confused just then. Of course, she didn't really give a damn, not with the knowledge that she'd forgotten her child flooding through her.

The moment of realization was like being stabbed in the chest, a burst of pain rushing through her entire body as her lungs suddenly forgot how to breathe. Kate's eyes went wide as she clutched at the divider between her seat and Peter's, a thousand and one questions rushing through her head – and all of them started with "how?" How could they have forgotten him? How could she not have thought of him at all until now? How? How? How?

"Honey, what's wrong? What about Kevin?" Peter sounded almost amused, although it faded quickly into something more akin to concern when she didn't reply. "Kate? Kate, what about Kevin?"

Looking back, Kate had no idea how she managed to find the strength to turn her head towards Peter. It felt like she was moving through tar, like a heavy weight was pressing down on her and holding her body in place. Still, she did. Somehow.

"He was on the third floor," she said, her voice cracking. "That's where he was sleeping last night, up on the third flood. We didn't—" She cut off, bracing herself. "No one woke him up this morning. We forgot him. He's not on the plane, Peter. He's still at home. Alone."

Peter stared blankly at her for a long moment. Then he shook his head. "We did a headcount before we left the house, remember?" he said. "Nobody was missing. All of the kids were there. Kevin's sitting back in coach with everyone else, probably wondering what's going on up here."

Kate just shook her head, not trusting her voice. What kind of mother was she? She'd forgotten her baby. It had been hours since the flight had taken off, and she hadn't thought of him once until just now. He had to be awake by now, alone in a house and well aware that they had left him behind, that his entire family had gone to the airport and flown to another country without him. What was he thinking? He had to be terrified.

"Look, I'm going to go find him right now," Peter said, unbuckling his seatbelt and standing up. "Just wait. I'm sure he's sitting in his seat wondering why on earth you're screaming for him. I'll bring him up here so you can see that everything's fine, okay?"

Peter reached out and pressed a kiss against her cheek before leaning forward to say something to Frank and Leslie. She didn't have any idea what he said, but a moment later Leslie had slipped into his seat and was patting her on the shoulder.

"Kevin's on the plane, Kate," Leslie said. "There's nothing to worry about. Everything's absolutely fine."

Kate shook her head, her body still feeling heavier than it should have. "He's not," she said, and the words were like ashes in her mouth. "We left him at home. I know that we did."

Leslie sighed, but she didn't argue. She just patted Kate on the shoulder, as if that was enough to make her forget that she'd forgotten her child.

Kevin was eight-years-old. Nothing short of a prybar could get him out of bed in the mornings. There was no chance that he would have woken up on his own, gotten dressed, and quietly joined the rest of them. She knew her son better than that. She should have known that he wasn't with them at some point that morning, should have realized that he wasn't there. She should have... she should have...

Leslie patted her on the shoulder again. "Look, here comes Peter now. I'm sure—"

Her comforting words cut off abruptly, and Kate felt her sister-in-law stiffen beside her. That, more than anything, let Kate know that she'd been right. If Peter had come back with Kevin in tow, Leslie wouldn't have had that reaction.

"He wasn't there, was he?" Kate asked, tearing her gaze away from her hands so that she could look at Peter. The words felt like glass in her mouth as she forced them out, like it was hurting her to even say them. "Kevin's not on the plane. He wasn't with the other kids."

Peter's face was pale, and he looked almost sick as he met her gaze. Kate expected that she wore a similar expression on her own face. He didn't say anything, and she knew it was because there wasn't anything _to_ say. She was right, and now he knew it.

All Peter did was shake his head.

Kate closed her eyes. "Oh God," she said, clenching her hands into fists. "We forgot him. He's still back at the house. We left him home alone."

She was vaguely aware of murmurs coming from behind them and around them, their fellow passengers clearly hanging onto every word coming out of her mouth as they realized just what she was saying. Kate couldn't find it in herself to care just then, though, not with the realization sinking in that Kevin _wasn't on the plane_. That he wasn't with them.

"... yes, of course. Let me check with the pilot and see what we can do."

Kate opened her eyes at that, watching as one of the flight attendants hurried towards the front of the plane. Peter had retaken his seat beside her at some point, his lips pressed so tightly together they were all but invisible. Leslie had been the one who'd pulled the flight attendant to the side and presumably explained what had happened. Or, at least, that's what Kate assumed considering it looked like she was just sitting back down.

Five minutes. It hadn't even been five minutes since she'd realized that Kevin was missing, since her entire world had been turned upside down. That's all it took, a handful of minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/settiai)


End file.
